The Antiwar Liberal | Jan Schakowsky

June 27, 2007

"If we could pass it, I would stop this war today. . . . But there aren't the votes to do that."

July 17, 2007

Speaking to war protesters gathered by candlelight in the park outside the Capitol, on the night of the Senate's all-night debate on the war, Schakowsky was seized by hope for a decisive vote. Flanked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and dozens of Democrats, she stepped to the lectern. "All we're asking now is for an up or down vote in the Senate. That's all we want," she said as the crowd applauded.

"Do you know that 18-year-olds who are being recruited today, some of them were 13 years old when this war began? We're not going to have any more teenagers growing up to go to war in Iraq. We can end it. We need your help. Let's do it tomorrow."

Sept. 6, 2007

Reviewing the Government Accountability Office and independent commission reports, Schakowsky said: "Their numbers are cherry-picked, and so what you have is a picture of one small place for one month. But the reality is this is the bloodiest summer of the war, that sectarian violence has doubled.

"The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data.' "

Awaiting the general:

"They're on a PR offensive that to me is reminiscent of the lead-up to the war originally . . . first it was Colin Powell, and now it's David Petraeus.

"The good news is that now we control the agenda and now we control the timing here, which gives us a lot more options."